There is nothing we like better than a good old war between Apple iOS and Android OS – especially when Android is showing signs of winning. While the Android OS is the worldwide leader, in the corporate or business enterprise world, Apple still leads the pack. However, with the fall of BlackBerry and Microsoft barely a blip on the charts, Android is starting to make real headway into the business world – much like a college student having pay his dues before being recognized by management, Android is finally showing itself to be worthy of the same recognition that is afforded Apple. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has also helped push Android through those corporate doors, as more and more consumers are enjoying the benefits that an Android device can provide over a device running iOS.
Our source derives their information from Good Technology – a company that tracks worldwide phone activations from over 5,000 customers. We must preface the findings by telling you that BlackBerry is nowhere to be found in their results – not because BlackBerry has no role in enterprise (they still do), but because their devices go through the BlackBerry Enterprise servers for activation, and Good Technologies has no way to obtain those figures. Their findings still show that Apple’s iOS still tops the charts at 67-percent of total enterprise activations in Q2 2014, although that is a drop of 5-percent. Android OS activations increased by 5-percent to 32-percent of total Q2 2014 activations. Windows Phone remained constant over the last five quarters at only 1-percent.
Looking further at the numbers: Android smartphones showed the largest increase of 4-percentage points, bringing their total up to 30-percent quarter-over-quarter. Apple iPhone activations remained unchanged, at 51-percent, during the same time-period, although iOS tablets actually saw a decrease to 16-percent of total activations.
It should come as no surprise that the top use of these devices within the enterprise world was documenting editing – often an original document is typed up on a PC and then distributed to users, they are then called upon to ‘tweak’ the document on their tablet or smartphone before sending the updated document back to a PC. Second most widely used application would be instant messaging, as a means of quickly communicating with fellow workers rather than resorting to the traditional phone call.
Like all facets of mobile communications, the enterprise world is also changing to keep up with employee preferences, and the cost savings of allowing them to BYOD. It looks as though Android is finally making more inroads into this corporate world as it continues to gnaw away it that pesky Apple. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if your workplace allows you to BYOD…as always, we would love to hear from you.
